Yucks, but better Now!!!

Having the Yucks, sure does S%$K, we have been having the standard this time of year yucks going around the house, first it was Cassie, then Sheryl and then, wammo!! out of nowhere it hit me with a vengeance!!! However, being my stubborn self, still went to work and have just been feeling like yuck for going on 1 1/2 weeks now. Ok, well you get the picture, as to why no updates lately.


Big news for the family, Chris flew out to meet Kayla while she was in Vegas for a bowling tourney, however, on his way, he stopped by Amarillo to ask me for Kayla's hand in marriage. Wow it's take a great guy and someone who really cares about his girl, to arrange a special trip to ask the proper way. I think Chris is a good guy and as Kayla really seems to be head over heals in love, so of course I said yes. This was all of course without Kayla's knowledge, so it was cute to hear her call Thursday night and tell me "I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!!" She seems really happy, and they are looking at the spring/fall of 2009 wedding, so they are not just rushing into it.


Sheryl and I attended the Gander Mountain Holiday Party on the 13th, turned out to be a pretty nice affair, held at the Country Barn restaurant here in town, all you could eat BBQ and fixins. We had not been there before, and it is nice enough inside and the food was good, so we may make it a regular stop on our eating out list. During the party, several prizes were raffled off, and we won the Digital Camera, it's a 8.0 MP Nikon, comes with a adjustable tripod and water proof case, very nice!!! Not only only did we win the camera, we also won 1 of 4 $100.00 bills they were giving away!!! Quite the productive evening we had.

Before the plaque hit the household, the winch for the jeep came in, and on one of my days off I stopped by to see Jackie to have it mounted. We as in Kevin (and Jackie's) lucks goes, it was not the simple plug and play operation it seemed it was going to be. Seems as if Warm (the winch manufacture) fails to tell you about a mounting kit you need to mount the solenoid to the winch, and which of course you have to buy separately (not a happy man at that point) However, Jackie being the master fabricator he is, made a mount from scratch (better than anything Warn would have done) Long story short, the winch is all mounted on the bumper and ready for action!!! Let just hope we never need it, even though it sure is nice to know it is there if we do!!!


Kailiegh and her grandmother Kay stopped by for the weekend for a quick visit, it was nice to see them both. We all did the standard visiting and catching up. Kay left Sunday morning and Sheryl drove Kaileigh back yesterday to OKC. Sheryl will be back this evening (sure do miss her even when she is gone only for one night)


That's it for now, more of life's little adventures happened also, but nothing really note worthy, so until next time, keep loving your life as we do ours.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Happy New Year one and all!!! Well as we all know it is 2008, wow, where does the time go??? Hope all had as good a New Years holiday as we did!!! We (Sheryl and I) actually dad 3 days off together and over the holiday to boot! Sunday Sheryl and the girls went down to Lubbock TX and did the girl thing, the Mall and Shopping, what else....lol. I hung here and just had a relaxing day. The girls made it back and it was off to dinner, one last night out together before Kaileigh headed back to OKC the next morning.

New Years Eve was spent just putzing around the house together and getting things done (darn, don't you hate when real life pops into your holiday....lol) However New Years eve evening was spent with our good friends and next door neighbors, Brandon and Julie. We had a great time of football and games before ringing in the new year, we toasted one and all, before us old farts had to head home and off to bed.

The following morning (ok, noon to be exact) we joined the Jeep Club at the Canadian river for a day of four wheeling and fun. Approximately 25 jeeps were there as well as a few other folks who had joined in for the fun. The day was spent wheeling most of the area, while stopping for the more hard core wheelers to take on the more extreme areas and obstacles.

A couple of shots of the more extreme areas (pictures really don't do the terrain justice) deep washouts and 4-5 foot rock faces for the more ambitious folks. Some made it look easy and some, well let's just say..........didn't.......lol. Our friend Clint in the yellow jeep (yup the one on it's side) won the glorious honor of the cow bell (must wear it to all jeep club events) for being the first one to roll his jeep since the last lucky fellow.

After the festivities at the river we met some fellow jeepers at the Texas Roadhouse restaurant for dinner and more good times, before heading home. All in all what a great New Years, spent with family, and friend, new and old. Yet anther reason we have to be thankful and love our life. Hope you had as good a holiday as we did, so once again Happy New Year to all.

Playin Catch-Up and Merry Christmas to All

MERRY CHRISTMAS Everyone!!!, ok, so it's a few days late, wow where does the time go!! We'll play catch up and get in all the news that's fit to print since the last posting. Well, it's Christmas time, this year Sheryls new found son (Joeseph)and his wife (Audrey) came in, as well as Kailiegh and our little one Claria. Chris couldn't make it as he was on call. We actually celebrated Christmas on Sunday insted of Tuesday, because Joe and Audrey could only stay for the weekend. We opened presents and had Christmas dinner (Ham and all the fixin's) yummy, yummy, and just had a great visit with everyone. Kailiegh and Claria did get to stay for a few more days, it has been nice having them around, and Sheryl gets to play Gama that much longer :)

Here is the gang siting in the present opening aftermath, it was a good old fashioned Christmas this year, few presents and more about spending time together.

Our Christmas Photo.

Even the house was in the Christmas spirit, all decorated up.
We did have quite the northern storm roll in, 40-50 mph winds, poor Xmas decorations just couldn't stand up to the on slot, the storm brought a couple inches of snow also, but it quickly melted off as the next day was quite warm, got to love this north Texas weather!!!About mid December we started seeing the geese come in for their pit stop while heading further south. You can hear the honking as they fly by, seems as if there are geese everywhere one minute and the next their gone.

Been keeping myself busy, one more step toward the future and our travels. Been working on a storage system for the jeep, as you can imagine there's not much room for taking all you need for a few days out and about. With the seat removed, I put down a wood sub floor to level out the seat belts and other humps and bumps. Then found a great deal on a ATV cargo basket at work, so it is being fabricated to make a second level for more storage. Everything is removable, so we can still carry a passenger or two.

Ok, not much else has happened, just work, lots of it for me, and Sheryl seems extra busy at the ER (gee put a little ice on the roads and.......lets just say job security for her....lol) Now were getting ready for New Years, so until we see you next year, keep Lovin Your Life!!!

Jeep Club Xmas Party and a FIRE!!!!

The Jeep Club held it's annual Christmas Party (OK, I know it wouldn't be a semi annual one!!!...lol) anyway, we attended and had a ball. The party was catered by a local BBQ joint...can you say YUMMY!! ate till we were stuffed!! Most everyone brought a dessert and as you can tell by the picture, there was quite a variety and everything was good, well as much of it as I could taste anyway. Everyone was required to bring a gift, wrapped but un-named, we all drew numbers and in order came up and picked a present from under the tree. The present was opened in front of everyone to see. You are probably wondering why the gift was opened for all to see, well it is so when your turn comes, you have the option of getting a gift from under the tree or stealing one that someone else had already gotten. Well as the night wore on lots of gifts were stolen back and forth, all in good fun. Sheryl had her gift stolen 4 times, even the one she really wanted (the stick horsey) which she promptly stole back, (see the look of joy in her eye as she poses with her loot, the horsey.....lol Fun was had by all and we had a great time, meeting new people and making new friends.
A few days later I got off work and headed over to say hey to Jackie at his shop across from Gander Mountain. We were just a chit chatting and happened to look outside to the sight above, seems a little grass fire (ok, a big grass fire!!) had started across the way. Later it was learned, 500 acres had burned along with a barn. A man and his son were in the barn, but noticed the fire coming there way and made a hasty retreat. To put the fire in perspective, the small buildings to the right are the hospitals where Sheryl works. Thank goodness the wind was not blowing in that direction or in the direction of Gander Mountain.

The rest of the week has been getting ready for Christmas, decorate the house (pictures to come) shopping and more shopping. More to come next time on the Xmas prelude. So until later take care and love your life, it's the only one you have!!!

First Snow, Wedding and a Parade!!!

Sheryl and I both had to work Thanksgiving day, well, Sheryl thought she had to work, she was given the day of as soon as she got to work, (heck why call and bother us with that news when we can have her come in and waist her day!!!) anyway, Sheryl headed up to southern Kansas to spend Thanksgiving with her family and I followed later after work. The day after Thanksgiving came quite a surprise, a fresh snowfall, about 3 inches worth, sure was a sight to see, nothing like fresh snow on the ground before it becomes trampled with modern day life (footprints, car tracks, snow plows, you get the picture) Sure glad it decided to wait till after we both arrived. Sheryl had a great time spending Thanksgiving with her family and getting to visit her mom.

The day after Thanksgiving one of Sheryl's nieces got married in one of the family homes. It was a nice simple ceremony with several guests and lots of family in attendance. I had to head back home Friday night for work early Sat morning. Sheryl stayed and visited with everyone until Sunday when she too returned home. Friday night was quite the drive home with many of the rural roads not yet plowed, made me wish I had Jeep for the trip, however the Volvo did well with only a couple of lost traction moments.

Friday night, Nov 30, Amarillo held it's annual Parade of Lights downtown, and as always the Jeep Club showed up to partake in the festivities!!! I had a blond moment as it were, thought the parade was on Saturday night (which I would have had to work) so I didn't have Jeep prepared for the parade. Found out it was Friday night at the last minute, so hopped in Jeep headed downtown and lended my support by cheering them on from the sidelines. After the parade several of us met for dinner at a local BBQ joint, ahhh good food and good company, what more could you ask for!! Life is good, so as you have heard before keep lovin your life also!!!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Yes indeed, another year older and another year wiser (ok, well older anyway....lol) 49 years ago, I was born a poor black child (oh wait, that was from a Steve Martin movie...lol) I was born in Indiana, where we promptly moved to Florida, I joined the Air Force after a brief stint in FL law enforcement and here I am with a beautiful, wonderful lady and just lovin our life...hmmmm where have I heard that before??????...lol Speaking of the wonderful lady, she arranged quite the birthday surprise, a nice romantic dinner at a Japanese Steak house, a luxury suite at the best hotel in town, Champagne in the room.....yes, quite the evening....won't go into any more details as I'm sure you get the rest!!!! :) To sum it up, it was a really great birthday!!!

Notice anything different about Jeep?? well she has a new smile on the front, if you didn't notice then check the parade pic's, go ahead I'll wait.........................................yes she has a new bumper!! It was custom made by a friend of mine (Jackie) who owns a Jeep and Fabrication business, he does great work. Next project for Jackie is to cover Jeeps rear with a new bumper and tire carrier, but that will be a little bit down the road.


Better late than never, see the new flag on the house, yup same one Jeep carried in the Veterans Day parade, well, finally got around to putting it on the house, we have been wanting to put one up for a while, so here it is.

That's it for this addition, you all take care, where ever you may be, and love your life as we do ours!!!

Veterans Day Parade and Old Jeep Visit

Quite the busy weekend it was this Veterans Day holiday. Ok, back up a few days, we attended our first Jeep Club meeting http://www.jeepexclusive.net/index.htm the bylaws say you have to attend a meeting and a function before you can actually join, so the Veterans Day parade made the function also. We are joining the club to meet new people and travel to new places while jeeping, so far it is working out great as you will soon see. Above is Jeep all dressed up for the parade.

We were toward the back of the line, but still in the middle of the action!!

Sheryl got a kick out of the old Air Force tow vehicle, it headed the club in the parade, and yup it's a Jeep!!!

There were 20 plus jeeps from the club in the parade, we were stacked 3 wide at the beginning, however, pulled into a singe file line for the parade.

Boys will be Boys as these two tried to impress the judges as well as have alittle fun.

Well they must have impressed the judges a little as we won 3rd place out of over 80 entries.
After the parade, we all headed over to Jackie Wrights garage for a BBQ and all around good time. We met several nice people and had some good ole burgers and fixins. Jackie is the one who put the lift on Jeep and I do have to say, he is one of the nicest and most honest people we have ever met.

The parade was on Saturday, on Sunday we traveled with some club members to the booming metropolis of Hart Texas, a little town in the middle nowhere USA. to met a man who had a few old Jeeps we were told. We thought it would be fun and at least see a new town. Little did we know the surprise we were in for!!! This man had 10-15 sheds, barns and trailers on is farm all loaded with old jeeps, old John Deer tractors and antique cars. They were in different stages of restoration, or just sitting around the property.

Each building held at least three of these tractors.

We ran across this old Jeep truck, yes it is a JEEP, no one from the club had ever seen or even heard of a Jeep like this and he had 4 of them, Wow what a treat!!!

Sheryl was like a kid in a candy store, these old trucks and cars brought back memories from her childhood on the family farm, she was having a ball playing on them, you should have seen the big smile on her face. It was great to see her laughing and having fun!!

How about this gem, you cold just imagine the town doctor riding down main street in the 1800s in his fancy carriage.

Sheryl wasn't the only one having fun, I was just amazed at what this old gentleman had collected over the years. Each time we opened a shed, it was like Christmas!!!

Even had several old signs in one of his many garages.

What a great day we had, spent over three hours just looking at all he had to offer. Before heading home we all went to dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Wow, what a weekend, this is what life is all about, meeting new good people, seeing new and exciting things and just lovin life. That's it for this episode, so as we alwasy say, Keep Lovin your Life as we do Ours.